South Kitsap boys beat Bellarmine; SK girls lose close one

South heads to Silverdale for a boys/girls doubleheader with Central Kitsap on Friday

South Kitsap's Darian Dickey has her eyes on the basket on a fast break in the first quarter Wednesday against Bellarmine Prep.

With every school in the area but South Kitsap closed because of stormy weather, the Wolves hogged all of the basketball news Wednesday.

And it was mostly good news.

South's boys picked up a solid Narrows League victory, 48-43 over Bellarmine in Tacoma.

South's girls didn't win, but the Wolves gave highly- regarded Bellarmine (ranked No. 8 by the Seattle Times) all it wanted before falling 50-45 in a Narrows encounter in Port Orchard.

Boys: Devon Newquist came up big in a decisive third quarter, pounding the offensive boards to help the Wolves turn a 24-18 halftime deficit into a two-pound lead. From there it was a back-and-forth game.

"We just made a few more plays," SK assistant Brian Cox said.

Luke Meikle, who has verbally committed to Gonzaga, led Bellarmine with 18 points.

Tom Simpson, who had 12 points, hit a couple free throws at the end to clinch it. Newquist finished with 13 points.

South is at Central Kitsap Friday, then heads to Coeur 'd alene, Idaho, to play in the Lake City Invitational after Christmas. The Wolves open against Garfield (No. 3 in Seattle Times rankings) on Dec. 27, and will play Sandpoint, Idaho, on Dec. 28 and Auburn on Dec. 29.

Girls: "We gave 'em a good game, but our youth kind of showed in the end," SK coach Mike Hulet said. "We didn't execute when we really needed to."

Bellarmine's front line goes 6-foot-3, 6-0, 6-1 and Hulet said the Wolves, who led by five at halftime, kept it a three or four-point game throughout and were within two late. SK held Ionna Price, who had been averaging 16 points, to eight.

Hayley O'Dell led South with 17 points and played well at both ends of the floor, said Hulet.

Three of South's four losses are by five points or less.

"Right now we can't close the door," Hulet said, "but we're getting better every game."

South pays unbeaten Central Kitsap in the first game of Friday's varsity doubleheader in Silverdale. The game starts at 5 p.m. The girls and boys games will be live streamed by the Kitsap Sun. Go to kitsapsun.com/basketball.